


High Tides

by eternalia



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fantasy, Kristanna, Rating May Change, Tags to be added, mermaid!Anna, pirate!kristoff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:07:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23203702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternalia/pseuds/eternalia
Summary: Kristoff couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Mermaids were a folk tale, they didn’t exist. At least not anymore. And yet, here she was right before his eyes.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yay a new story! I was working on a one-shot but this idea took hold of me a month ago and I couldn't wait to post it. I have the next few chapters written out but it might take a bit longer to post.

Kristoff Bjorgman loved sailing on the seas. The smell of sea salt in the air, the wind rushing through his shaggy hair, and the feeling of knowing adventure is on the horizon he looked at. 

“Grand Pabbie, I won’t let you down,” Kristoff muttered to himself.

“Captain! Enemy ship approaching!” His right hand man yelled out to him from below the Captain’s deck.

“Who's it?” he bellowed. 

“It’s Hans!” The voice of his right hand man was louder as he came up to the deck. His silky brown hair flew in the wind. “What are your orders?”

“As always, Flynn.” Kristoff smirked at him. “We attack!” 

“Aye, aye captain!” Flynn smirked and jumped over the wooden railing with lithe grace down to the deck. 

Kristoff had the utmost faith in his crew, they were skilled fighters and were loyal. He honestly saw them as part of his family. That, and he and his crew absolutely hated Hans with a passion. He stole and stole from the poor, and used it for his own greed. 

He absolutely wanted to take him down for good.

The ship loomed closer and his crew rushed in order to prepare for the attack. He knew Hans would try to use some sneaky trick on them. He was always one to fight dirty.

Kristoff hopped down to the main deck and waited for the ship to come closer. He could see the people on the deck of Hans’ ship bustling about, preparing for battle. 

Flynn came up to his side, armed and ready, the gleam of his sword shining in the sun. 

The ship came closer… and closer.

“Fire!” Kristoff yelled. The resulting boom of the cannons was Hans’ welcome. And the splintering of the wood of Hans’ ship was music to Kristoff’s ears. 

“We’ve grappled them!” Another crew member yelled. “Let’s go!” 

Planks of wood were laid on the edges of the ship, and members climbed across. The resulting battle ensued as swords clashed, gleaming in the sunlight. Odd, Kristoff thought. They weren’t putting up much of a fight. 

He climbed on over, sword unsheathed in order to join the battle. But there wasn’t one to be had. Hans’ crew didn’t seem to be fighting. Only a few put up a fight, but most were listless and seemed to surrender and wilt as Kristoff walked over. Kristoff frowned. 

“Where’s Hans?” he growled over to a short and stalky crewmember.

He seemed to squeak as he spoke. “Not here, sir!” 

“What do you mean, not here?” He glared at the short man, who seemed to wilt into himself even more. He held up his arms to show he was defenseless.

“I mean it, sir! He escaped on one of the smaller ships on deck before this ship reached yours.” 

Flynn sidled up next to him. “He just left his crew?” He frowned. That wasn’t honorable at all. 

Kristoff yelled out in anger and kicked over a barrel. Hans had always seemed to be just out of his reach, that weasel. Flynn stayed by his side, like always. After a few moments of silence, he made up his mind.

“Take his gold, whatever supplies and rations you can find on this ship. The rest of the crewmembers will be taken onto our ship,” he ordered.

“Aye, aye, captain!” The resounding yell of his crew calmed his anger. They didn’t question his orders at all.

Kristoff couldn’t believe how sneaky Hans could be. Though by this point he should have known. He paced around the main deck of Hans’ ship, and went down to the captain's quarters to see what he could salvage from there. 

The room was innocent and unsuspicious. In the center of the room stood a table with maps laid out on top of it, a telescope and other tools. Though in a corner he could see something covered in white cloth and rope. He walked over to it and tried to feel what was underneath it. Something solid and smooth.

He unsheathed a small dagger and cut the rope tied around it. And he lifted the cloth and uncovered the unknown object. He froze in his place as he revealed what it was. A tank of sea water halfway filled. But that wasn’t what surprised him. 

Inside was a mermaid, one with an emerald green tail and long flowing red hair. Vivid blue eyes met his own in fear.

* * *

Anna couldn’t believe her dumb stupidity. She wallowed in it for what seemed to be forever and how she got to be entangled in Hans’ ship. 

Her and Elsa had been warned of going up to the surface where humans dwelled. But Anna couldn’t help it. She was so curious. She didn’t believe in being locked up forever. 

Even after their parents were killed, Elsa wouldn’t ever go up to the surface, and oftentimes had scolded Anna for going. She had never known why. 

Though now she did.

It was through luck that she had met Hans in his ship. He had shown her kindness at first, and she hadn’t ever seen a more handsome man in her life. She was absolutely smitten. And for a day, he had shown her things, human things, and showed her kindness she never expected a human to have. She had agreed to go with him on his ship when he said he loved her and never wanted to be away from her. 

She was thirsting for adventure after all, and she rushed back to tell Elsa the good news. Elsa was not impressed. Her distrust of humans didn’t give way and they argued and argued, especially since she had only met him that very day. 

_“It’s true love, Elsa!”_

_“You can’t have true love if it’s only been a day, Anna.”_

_“For us, it is!” Anna insisted. “And we can’t shut ourselves from the rest of the world! There’s so much to see!”_

_“It’s dangerous out there, Anna. And they can’t be trusted. Especially this Hans!”_

_“Elsa, you always do this! You have to open up at some point! Hans is a good man, and he’s shown me so much kindness.”_

_“No, Anna!” Elsa’s blue eyes burned with fury. “You absolutely cannot go with him. I forbid it.”_

_Anna was sniffling, tears pouring out of her eyes at the unfairness of the situation. She swam away from her beloved sister, she couldn’t bear to see her anger._

_But it didn’t matter as Hans’ ship had followed them and his crew had captured her. They had tried to capture Elsa too, using sharp harpoons and nets casted in her way. But she was too fast. And what Anna saw baffled her into shock. Ice shards came out from Elsa’s hands, morphing the water around her into ice that she shot out towards Hans’ crew._

_“Elsa!” Anna cried, she was stuck in a net and was hoisted out of the water onto a hard wooden floor. She looked up and saw Hans’ grin, no longer the kind man she had met. Her heart dropped into her stomach._

_“Get the other one! The one with the prettier scales!” Anna paled. She willed Elsa to swim, far far away from her mistakes and to save herself. Her ice powers that she was hiding should help her, and Anna hoped to heavens that she would be alright._

_“As for this one,” Anna felt the stomp of his boots come closer to her. “Put her in the tank! We’ll get her scales and sell them. Even if they aren’t as pretty as the other, they’ll still come up for a good price.” Hans spoke coldly as he tilted her chin up to look at him. She flinched away from his touch, no longer able to bear looking at him._

_“We’ll find the other one, no matter what the cost. If we sell her to the circus, from her magic ability we’ll be able to rake in tons of gold!”_

_Anna gasped. She felt herself being taken under the ship and unceremoniously tossed into a small tank filled with seawater in a room. They put a wooden board over the opening of it so she couldn’t escape. She banged on the glass until her hands were red, but it was to no avail._

_Hans smirked at her through the glass, as if she was some sort of pet._

_“It’s no use, sweetheart.” Hans spoke without a care in the world of what he just did. “You won’t be able to escape.”_

_He turned around and walked away, the door closing behind him._

_“Set sail!” He yelled out._

_“Yes, sir!”_

Days have passed since then. Hans would feed her fish that they pull from the sea, and she ate it heartily. She needed fresh water, and more air, but found herself unable to grasp anyone’s attention as Hans had strict orders to not interact with her, except for him.

Everyday, she regretted her decision to go up to the surface. To be separated from her sister, and to be stuck in a glass box with almost no room to move. 

One day, she had heard Hans rushing around in panic.

“It’s Bjorgman!” One with an oblong tube he stared into the sea yelled. 

“Shit!” Hans said. She had never heard him so scared, based on the tremor in his usually cold voice. Who was this man? If he was even worse than Hans, she didn’t want to meet him. With renewed vigor that she didn’t have in a long time, she started to bang on the glass, hoping to break it and give her sweet freedom. It brought Hans’ attention to her. 

He stalked on over and slammed on the glass, hard enough to make her flinch.

“Shut up, wench.” She didn’t know what the word meant, but with the way he spat it out, it couldn’t have been good. She curled up more in fear.

“Sir, what do we do?” A crewmember asked, seeming to shake as he stood in the center of the room.

“You’ll deal with this mess. I’ll be getting off of this damn ship before Bjorgman kills me.” Hans spat out. He looked at Anna’s tail, the emerald green scales glimmering in the sunlight from the window and smirked. Anna gulped in fear, her heart fluttering in pain.

“But I’ll be taking something before that.” Hans unsheathed a dagger and took off the wooden board that hindered her escape for so long, and reached for her tail with the dagger.

Anna sat as still as she could, clutching her bleeding tail from the spots that were bare from the scales Hans’ took. He had covered the tank with cloth and rope afterwards, saying that she will just die here and no one would know. Hans’ evil grin peered down at her and she backed herself into the corner of the tank, tears leaking down her face. 

The clattering booms of the cannons made her flinch and she covered her ears. There was yelling and metal clanging together from above her, and then there was nothing but silence. 

She had heard a booming voice ask about Hans, and she cursed Hans to the deepest pits of the sea at the reminder of the heartless man. She had heard the anger in his voice at finding out he was gone, and the commands to steal the rest of the ship’s treasure that he had collected but couldn’t take with him on his smaller vessel.

Anna had tried to make herself as small and stayed as still as she could, as she heard the other people clamber around the ship following his orders.

But she heard the rope give way as they were cut and the cloth pulled away from over the tank. Her heart beat painfully as her eyes rose to stare into her new captor with fear.

* * *

Kristoff couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Mermaids were a folk tale now, they didn’t exist. At least, not anymore. And yet, here one was, right before his eyes. His eyes drifted over her body, and he scowled as he saw her bleeding tail. It was obvious what Hans took, and with the way she had cowered away into the corner of the tank in fear, he cursed Hans to hell. He felt a deep need to go and help her spread deep inside himself. Mermaid scales were rare and had healing properties no human medicine could ever compare to. They were rumored to give one immortality if eaten. It was no wonder they sold for so much in the black markets. But even if she was a mermaid, it was still something to be treated with respect. 

From the looks of it, she hasn’t had fresh sea water in days, the water gray and now mixing in with her blood.

“Holy shit.” Flynn came up next to him, his golden eyes wide in awe. “Is that what I think it is?”

“It is,” Kristoff murmured quietly. “He probably covered the tank after he was done taking the scales so no one could see her and try to help.”

“That’s terrible.” Flynn looked at the helpless girl in pity.

Kristoff saw her flinch and how she kept her gaze downwards. After a moment, he shrugged off his long leather coat resolutely, and held it with one arm as he pried off the wooden board covering the tank. The mermaid kept her gaze on him, and he couldn’t help but look into those eyes. 

He carefully reached in and wrapped his arms around her torso, and lifted her up out of the tank with one arm. The other arm that held the coat wrapped it around her, and he lifted her up bridal style. She seemed to weigh about less than half of him and he marveled at how small she was.

The blonde felt her squirm in his hold, and he couldn’t blame her, the poor thing. Who knows what else Hans had done to her.

“It’s alright, we’re not going to hurt you,” Kristoff said quietly to her. “We’re going to help you.”

At this she seemed to relax somewhat, her body becoming more pliant underneath the coat and in his arms. Her body was still a bit rigid as if she couldn't decide to trust him or not.

“We need to get her to Honeymaren. She’ll help dress the wounds.” 

“Kristoff, this is a mermaid, are human remedies even going to work?” 

The man in question frowned, but his eyes were shining with determination. “We have to try.”


	2. Chapter 2

Anna tried to stay as still as possible in the arms of the man known as Bjorgman. She still didn’t know if he could be trusted, especially with the episode with Hans and how it almost ended up in disaster. But if he was helping her for now, she could potentially trust him. She marveled at the warmth he was emitting, and even though she wanted to get away from him, something in her told her she could trust him. 

She wanted to snuggle closer, but stopped herself as he carefully walked down into a tunnel of sorts into a room, just like Hans’. With that, the fear returned in full force and she wiggled and squirmed, hissing as her injured tail rubbed against his jacket and left blood trails on it.

“Hey, hey. It’s alright.” His low voice tried to calm her. His honey brown eyes stared at her in sympathy, as if he knew what scared her. She just didn’t want to be in a room that had reminded her of Hans and her captivity. He gently laid her onto the bed. It was so soft! But she sent a little glare over to Bjorgman anyway. He chuckled. 

He turned towards the other man that hadn’t left his side yet.

“Flynn, go and get Honeymaren. She’ll be able to patch her up. And get a tub of fresh sea water in here too.” Her ears perked up at that. If she had sea water she could be able to be clean for the most part. 

“Got it. I’ll be as fast as I can.” And the other man had left them alone. 

Bjorgman had taken off his hat and hung it on a hook hanging off of the wall and circled around her. Anna didn’t take her eyes off of him. At least she wasn’t trapped so she did kind of have a fighting chance if need be. She could feel her tail drying painfully, which made the wounds ache even more. 

“I’m Kristoff. Kristoff Bjorgman,” he started speaking. Kristoff. For some reason the name suited him. She kept quiet, though she was curious. She couldn’t help but be—it was in her nature. And she was sure it shone in her eyes. Kristoff gave her a lopsided smile and spoke again as they waited for Honeymaren to arrive.

“You’re aboard my ship now. And you’ll be safe here. I won’t do anything Hans’ did to you.” 

He was seated next to the bed now. And she was still hugging the even softer pillow to her chest for comfort. They sat in silence until the door opened and a tan girl with black hair tied in a long braid walked gracefully inside, holding a basket of bottles. This must have been the one known as Honeymaren. She wondered what was in them, some were different colors and there were strips of white cloth in there. 

“Well, I’ll be damned. So Flynn wasn’t lying when he said there was a mermaid that needed my help.” Her brown eyes were wide and in awe. 

“If you can help her, it would be greatly appreciated,” Kristoff said. 

Honeymaren sighed. “I can try, but no promises.” She set the basket down on the surface next to her and leveled a glare to the two men in the room. “Alright, out with you two! We need some privacy here, even if she is a mermaid, she’s still a lady!” 

She swatted them with a cloth for good measure, Kristoff and Flynn looking aghast at her. But they still scrambled out of the room. Anna couldn’t help but let out a small giggle. Even though she was literally half of their size, she still commanded them without fear. 

Honeymaren turned to her with a kind smile. Then her brown eyes looked at her tail and winced. Anna didn’t think it looked too good either, but she had hope that this Honeymaren could heal it somehow. She felt the blood seep into the white sheets beneath her.

“My, he really did hurt you, didn’t he? That scum,” she said. 

“It really hurts,” Anna said quietly. Honeymaren looked towards her in sympathy. 

“Don’t you worry, I’ll do my best and you’ll be patched up in no time. I’m Honeymaren by the way.” 

“Anna.” 

It was the first word she had spoken to another human aside from Hans. 

“Anna? That’s a pretty name. It’s nice to meet you.” Her smile was kind and sincere and Anna couldn’t help but return it.

Honeymaren started to lift up the basket and fished out a bottle of clear liquid as well as a white cloth. She poured it out onto the cloth so that it was soaked. 

“This might sting a bit, I’m sorry.”

Anna couldn’t help but let out a small yell as Honeymaren touched the cloth softly to her tail near her waist. She didn’t think she had ever felt this kind of pain before, and she had run into things, scraped her tail countless times. But then again, she had never had her scales forcibly ripped off either. 

“It’s alright, I’m almost done.” Honeymaren made quick work of wiping up the blood using the godawful liquid, and Anna tried her best to keep quiet by biting her lip. She felt tears line her eyes. 

“You did well handling that. I’ve known men on this crew who are absolute babies when it comes to getting wounds treated.”

She watched as Honeymaren then grabbed a roll of thin, white cloth and unrolled it. But then she had felt something happen to her tail, that Anna had only heard of and never seen. She watched as her green tail had melted away from her waist to her feet as the water dried off of her tail, the mere droplets left on it dripping down her now flesh toned legs. 

Her now human legs were still wounded, but they were now even deeper than when she had her tail and she cried out painfully as they burned. 

Honeymaren gaped at her, unable to tear her eyes away from what she had just witnessed. 

“My god, you turned into a human!” she gaped. 

“I thought it was a myth,” Anna gritted out. “Mermaids out of water can turn into humans.”

Honeymaren blinked again. “Well, this does make it easier to bandage.” 

There was a bottle of clear liquid that she poured onto a cloth and delicately placed it onto her legs. Anna let out a yelp as it did, she had never felt this kind of pain before in her life! It burned as if she was on fire. 

She held up the roll of white cloth. She made quick work of lifting up her leg delicately and rolling the cloth around it, securing it tightly. She did the same with the wounds on her other leg and Anna felt a bit better. 

“I’m almost done,” Honeymaren said with a frown. She then took out a small roll of rough cloth.

“This is so that you don’t bleed out some more,” she explained. As she wrapped her leg in the cloth, Honeymaren spoke some more. 

“Kristoff did the right thing, taking you off of that ship. He’s always done what was the best for everyone. He’s a good man.” Anna smiled, she saw the admiration Honeymaren had for her captain. Not like Hans, who commanded everyone through yelling and fear mongering. She even saw him whip some crew members that he thought weren’t working hard enough. 

“I see that. Kristoff saved me, after all.” She gave a slight smile, which Honeymaren returned in full. 

“Everyone on our crew is safe to be around. You won’t have to worry here, and once you heal you can be free to go,” Honeymaren said. 

“You would let me go?” The wonder was clear in her voice.

“Of course.” Honeymaren nodded resolutely. “Everyone on this crew would agree that it would only be fair to let you go. Only after you heal completely though.”

Anna stood still in shock. She couldn’t believe that they would let her go just like that, without wanting anything in return. 

“Now. Let’s get you some clothes. You can’t go walking around unclothed now that you have human legs. I’ll be right back.” She covered her legs with a blanket and Anna marveled at its warmth. The wounds were now a dull ache, and she felt the coolness of the cloth soothe the heat of the burning wounds.

Honeymaren left the captain’s room and Anna thought she would feel the desolate emptiness seep through herself again. But it was different this time. It wasn’t defeated like how she felt with Hans, it felt more hopeful now as if she wasn’t alone. She had wanted to trust them, and she already does to some extent. While Elsa would say that she is naive and gullible, which, yes she is, she would admit that due to what had happened—but she wanted to trust in them. Trust in _Kristoff_. 

It was a few minutes before Honeymaren came back and Anna found herself taking a closer look around the room. It was structured the same as Hans’ room, but it was different. There were different maps lined around the room, and there wasn’t anything that looked extremely expensive. Hans would have jewels and gold items lined up like trophies on the shelves. Kristoff had books that she would love to read. She had wanted to learn human languages for the longest time, and she hoped that someone could teach her. If she wanted to stay. She would make that choice later. For now, she wanted to be here. 

Honeymaren knocked on the door and opened it slowly. In her arms she held some brown and white clothing. 

“Let’s get these clothes on you.” She smiled and Anna went to get up off of the bed. It was awkward and she stumbled, but Honeymaren helped her upright. It was strange, she’s seen countless people walk around on the shore but now that she could, it was harder than it looks. And so painful with her wounds and stiff with the bandages.

The water had dried and she actually felt a bit cold now, but she put on the clothes and she felt warm again. The breeches and top, as Honeymaren had called them, were loose and soft, and she didn’t feel trapped in them. Rather, she felt that she could move freely. It was a good feeling, to be able to move and not worry about being trapped in a glass cage again. 

Honeymaren had removed the top of netted rope and gold she had around her breasts, saying it was “barely a brassiere.” Anna didn’t know what that really was, but she had explained that it was customary for human women to wear them and that it was very common. 

She left the gold seashells in her hair near her ears, although Honeymaren had said they were impractical. She didn’t want to take them off, as she and Elsa had matching sets of gold and silver ones. She had no doubt that Elsa would still be wearing them, the silver seashells blending into her blonde locks beautifully. A wave of worry crept over her involuntarily. She so hoped that Elsa was alright. Honeymaren had left them alone after seeing her expression.

Her feet were left bare, and she wiggled them experimentally. Honeymaren had given her strict orders to rest, so she wouldn’t be walking anytime soon. 

Standing was a challenge altogether, let alone walking. She felt wobbly and uncertain of using her new—appendages, and had no idea how to walk like Kristoff and Honeymaren. She sat back down on the soft bed after Honeymaren had taken the sheets off to clean. Not even the softest coral could compare to beds and she adored them.

Kristoff had come back into the room, and his eyes bulged out as he took in the sight of her. 

“What…” he started. Honeymaren spoke for her.

“It seems that this mermaid could turn into a human once the water dries off of her tail,” she said. “I’ve bandaged her up as best as I could and it should be a few days until she’s healed completely.”

“I see.”

“Oh, and I don’t think she’ll be needing seawater anytime soon, but keep the tub in the room just in case she wants to.” 

“Agreed.” Kristoff stood with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed. 

It was another few minutes of hushed talking then, and Anna tried her best to hear but they were talking too quietly. She became lost in her thoughts instead. Before she knew it, Honeymaren was on her way out and she was left with Kristoff.

She blushed as he placed his eyes on her. Although Hans had a kind of gentlemanly beauty to him (though he was not a gentleman at all!), Kristoff had a rugged look about him that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. It went well with him, especially once she looked closer she could see that his eyes were genuinely kind. 

“Honeymaren told me that you don’t know how to walk,” he started.

“Yes, that’s true. I wasn’t aware that once I was out of the water I would grow human legs.” She kicked them outwards, still marveling at the phenomenon. The pain from her wounds had dulled down to an ache and not a painful sting. She felt more comfortable talking with him, especially since Honeymaren was comfortable with him. 

“That might be for the better. You shouldn’t walk around anyhow, not while you’re wounded.” 

Anna hummed in response, looking up at him through her lashes. 

“What should I call you?” he asked in a quiet voice. It seemed like he didn’t want to scare her, and she appreciated that.

“My name is Anna,” she graced him with a smile, a genuine one. 

“Well Anna, it’s nice to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We all knew it was coming! Aha, let's see what trouble Anna gets into with her legs later. Hope you guys are enjoying this so far!
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and kudos! You guys seriously make my day! :D

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! It's rated T, but I'm not sure if I'll add in stuff that constitutes a higher rating in the future. If I do, I will definitely change it.
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](https://eternaliax3.tumblr.com/)!


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